Another Weekend, Another Neighbor...

One week after our former neighbors visited us, our current neighbors, Tim and Mary Harvey from Brookings SD, came for a visit.  It seems this year our Fall has been our Summer and the weekend was beautiful.  We began where we usually begin, on a trek into the market for beer and Flammkuchen at the Ratskeller.  It was the weekend of yet another festival in town - Stadtfest (Cityfest).  All through town, every square or plaza had a band playing.  We ended up at our local Tapas restaurant - Los Tios - for beer, wine and small plates.  In front of us on the square was a local band playing salsa with a german twist.  There always seems to be an oom pah pah somewhere in the sound. 

After dinner, the girls headed for home while Pete and Tim walked through town visiting the various stages.  At one corner, they saw our favorite local musician - Mark Gillespie - who sold the boys a few CDs.  They ended up at our usual headquarters - Irish Pub.  After listening to more live music in the pub, Pete and Tim wandered past another music stage where a guy from the audience was singing "Sweet Home Alabama" while seated, like he does this everyday. 

After a good rest, on Sunday our group headed for the Rhine river valley to have a real picnic lunch at our new favorite vineyard - Schloss Johannisberg.  It was a gorgeous day and perfect weather for sitting on the hillside overlooking the Rhine.

Our next adventure was to drive through Champagne region of France on our way to Paris.  We stopped in Epernay, home of Dom Perignon at Moet Chandon - the mother of all Champagnes.  Although we visited Mercier who produces the self-proclaimed "most popular Champagne in France."  After another al fresco lunch, we headed into the dreaded traffic of Paris. 

Once again, Pete pulled through and got us to our hotel in one piece.  We checked in and hit the road since we still had daylight in Paris.  First stop was the Eiffel tower which we arrived at just in time for the light show.  We stopped at a local cafe for dinner and then found our way back to our hotel.  Next day, we decided to spend some time at Musee D'Orsay, home of many French impressionist paintings.  Notre Dame was next on the list and a stroll through the left bank streets and shops. 

Unfortunately, we only had one night in Paris, so we parted ways later that day.  Harvey's went to Brugge, Belgium via Brussels.  We headed back home to Wiesbaden.  Ready for more adventures with friends. 
Tschus!

Schloss Vollrads winery above the Rhine

Perfect day for a Picnic with the Rhine in the distance

The two Merry Mary's on the grounds of Schloss Johannisberg



RIP: another bottle of Champagne



Made it just in time for the light show

Twilight in front of Notre Dame

Notre Dame tourists



Perfect architecture:  looking through the monument from the Louvre to the obelisk at Place de la Concorde and on to the Arc de Triomphe



Mary and Tim overlooking the Seine



The legendary Johannisberg Noble Rot grapes on the vine



Never get tired of this picture location





More Friends Visit



Our former neighbors, Mark and Calla, came to visit us for a short weekend.  We were their stop #2 on a 3-stop itinerary through the heart of Europe.  When they reached us, we hit the ground running - picking them up at the Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof, stopping at home for some German Pilsner and apertivos, then headed out for a progressive walkabout.  First stop was our local cuban restaurant, Havana, for posters of Che Guevara and more beer.  Excited from the Cuban experience, we stopped for Cuban cigars - a delicacy only Americans cannot partake in (Pete's slam against the Man). 

Mark and Calla requested all German food, all the time while here ("When in Rome..." Calla said), so we went to our favorite Ratskeller for the usual fare.  The next day, Saturday, we walked into town through the park by the Kur House, and into the farmer's market.  We enjoyed currywurst at the market and a bit of shopping.  We then went for a drive to a beautiful (our new favorite) winery/castle called Schloss Johannisberg.  It is the actual place where the "noble rot" was discovered.  When the grapes were too old to harvest for the official Riesling, the monastery found the older grapes to be much more flavorful.  This began the Johannisberg Riesling wine we have today.  We brought along a picnic lunch and took in the scenic Rhine River valley below.  Again, we did the when in Rome thing and sampled the Riesling dry white wine.

When we returned back to Wiesbaden, we headed to another favorite german restaurant - the Bockerbrunnen.  It was time for schnitzel.  After returning home, we realized we were out of beer with no stores left open - a minor crisis alleviated by Spanish Rioja wine from Pete's last visit to Madrid. 

On Sunday, we took our friends to a favorite destination on the Egart tour of Germany - the scenic and quaint town of Heidelberg.  There we visited the castle, the bridge over the Neckar, and the historic Alstadt (old town).  On our way home, we stopped for yet one more German meal at the Eisgrub in Mainz - a brew pub with great atmosphere and, of course, good beer.  Crisis of no beer at home now a distant memory.

Monday morning, our friends were off to Milan for leg #3 of their journey.  Pete dropped them off at the airport and wished them Tschus!  Now we await the next set of visitors arriving 5 days later.

Walking through the park in front of the Kur House



In one of the many squares in the market area of Wiesbaden



Picnic at Schloss Johannisberg above the Rhine

A view South of the Rhine and the town of Winkel

South Dakota farmers stealing the noble rot grapes

Mark enjoying the scenery from one of the watchtowers at the Castle

View of Heidelberg from the castle with the bridge over the Neckar River



Calla and Mary strolling through Heidelberg

Great Friends, Great Rhine, Great Wine...

After returning home from Switzerland, the very next day we set off on a Rhine cruise from our Wiesbaden port.  The trip takes you downstream towards the northwest, past acres and acres of vineyards.  This stretch of the river is called the Romantic Rhine because of all the castles and well-preserved towns along the way.  This was the northern-most boundary of the Roman Empire and one of the busiest shipping rivers.  Many of the castles were placed there to extract tolls from the river traffic.  Most of these castles were built in the 11th-13th centuries. 

We stopped in the classic Rhine town of St. Goar where we had lunch among the ruins of Rheinfels Castle overlooking the river.  Us girls found a shoe store selling only Birkenstocks.... we all bought a pair.  So much for Romantic Rhine.  We then jumped on the next boat heading north to Koblenz.  This town was established during Roman times and in Latin means "confluence."  It is situated where the Mosel River joins the Rhine. The town was bustling because of an annual European flower show (BUGA) that Koblenz was chosen to host this year. 

Funny you should ask about our hotel.  In Europe, you have no idea what you are booking... pictures can be deceiving.  Since the town was inundated, we expected our pickings were slim.  Once we checked in, we couldn't find 2 of the rooms because they were hidden between floors (another good reason to have a local Konigsbacher beer).  This made the bathroom interesting... in order to use the sink, the door must be shut so you have room to turn around.  The next day we set off back home up the Rhine against the current.  This made for a longer trip so we were in for an 8-hour boat ride.  Luckily, Pete bought a deck of cards before leaving town so, no worries, we played Hearts and Rat all the way home.

The next day was Saturday which meant the opening of the Wiesbaden Rheingau Wine Festival.  During the day, we took in the farmers market and by night found new friends all over town to party with.  The festival is held for 10 days with live music held on 3 stages every night.  The music was just right for our group - lots of classic rock sung in perfect English by German cover bands.  We ended the night at our local fave Irish Pub with live acoustic music and.... beer. 

On Sunday, Mary took a break and Pete took our guests to Schloss Vollrads vineyard outstide the town of Oestrich-Winkel just down the Rhine from Wiesbaden.  We sampled their Sommer wine and promptly found their booth that night at the wine festival among 100 other Rheingau vintners.

By Monday, we went downtown for last minute shopping on the day before our friends needed to leave for home.  Of course, we came back for one more night at the Festival to get our Flammkuchen fix (pizza-like thin crust with creme sauce, bits of ham, cheese and topped with fresh Arugula).  It was a full and festive week with friends from home.   Tschus!

It must be noon somewhere

One of the many cliff-hanging castles along the Rhine

A scenic town along the Rhine

Having lunch in Rheinfels Castle above St. Goar

Only surviving castle along the Rhine - Marksburg

A castle surrounded by vineyards above the Rhine

Schloss Stolzenfels near Koblenz



Pete enjoying his family namesake wine (almost) at the Rheingau Wine Festival



Tim, Keith, Pete, and Agnes - our friends from England 

Behind the stage, Blind Willie Rounds played air harp with the band

This guy is dancing with his 2 daughters simultaneously... I wanted to cut in.

A little bit of South Dakota jitterbug in Wiesbaden

The group enjoying the riches of the Rheingau region



Girls just wanna have fun.... again



Great Friends, Great Mountains, Great Times...

OMG...Where do I begin?  Our good friends Mike and Brenda Andersen and Keith and Cathy Rounds came to visit us a few weeks ago.  Let's just say the words "Fun & Fantastic" describe everyday!

While waiting for the Rounds to arrive, the Andersen's and us took a day trip to Heidelberg to seek out the infamous castle and old town.  The bridge of the Neckar River is crossed by many tourists including us.  And the castle is perched on the hill above the river like a fortress.

One day after picking up the Rounds, we traveled with 2 cars to the pristine oh-so-swiss town of Lucerne, Switzerland. We were in search of the fantastic views, fondue and rosti's.  We found them all !!  The wooden covered bridges in the old city are one's to remember.  In fact, I remember vividly the main bridge from my first trip here 35 years ago.  The flowers along the entire span of the bridge are full and gorgeous.  We took a cruise on Lake Lucerne to enjoy the amazing vistas and homes along the lake.  The day was perfect for taking in the view and enjoying a cold beer on the boat. 

A short trip from Lucerne is the beautiful town of Interlaken... named because the town connects two long. crystal-clear lakes together.  From there, we had a great view of the 13,640 foot tall Jungfrau peak from our hotel room and fun Italian food for dinner.  The town is quite inundated with tourists with cameras (oops, maybe that was us), so we moved a short distance into an incredible valley below the town of Murren.  On the way, we stopped at Trummelbach Falls (Mike had this on the "must-do" list).  It's a meandering falls that moves inside and outside of a mountain cliff.  The path to view it up close and personal is in itself a marvel of Swiss engineering.

This area is called the Bernese Oberland - home of Eiger and Jungfrau mountain peaks. From just beyond the falls, we parked our cars below the town of Murren - it's only accessible by cable car.  Murren is perched on a ledge above the town of Lauterbrunnen and because there are no cars, it's extremely peaceful and quiet - and only a few miles from touristy Interlaken.  We stayed at the delighful Hotel Bellevue.  Checked in, threw our bags in the room, and immediately ordered beers on their patio terrace that was to die for.  After only about 2 beers on the terrace, it was so breathtaking, we all decided to stay an extra night there.  We found a little paradise, made even better by the uber-friendly Bellevue owners, Oti and Ruth.

We did some short hikes in town and after seeing hang gliders running off the mountain, Pete and Keith were enticed.  They both decided to try a paraglide flight over the cliff into the valley.  Thank god they were with professionals.  They can now knock this off their bucket list:  Jump off mountain with thin piece of fabric and some twine overhead.... Check! 

That night we finally had our authentic Swiss Rosti - a skillet of potatoes, cheese, veggies.  And Andersens shared a cheese fondue - that made our day.  The next day we woke up to cloudless skies.  After coffee on the terrace and more pictures, we almost decided to stay another day.  But, a Rhine river cruise was awaiting us back home in Germany.  That episode next...
Tschus!

Andersen's and us on the stone bridge in Heidelberg



View from Heidelberg Castle above the Neckar River



The famous covered bridge over the river leading from Lake Lucerne

Beautiful Jesuit church in Lucerne

Typical scene from boat trip on Lake Lucerne



It was our 34th wedding anniversary while we were in Lucerne so Pete asked me again... I said whatevvver...yes.



The girls just trying to have fun

Lake Lucerne

View from hotel room in Interlaken of Jungfrau peak

Bernese Oberland valley

Trummelbach Falls inside the mountain

Thank goodness I was there to save the day

The view from the terrace at Hotel Bellevue

Pete and pilot paragliding over the canyon...yikes!

Eiger Mountain from the terrace

Our new favorite Swiss beer - goes perfect with the view

OK, yet another view on a cloudless day

The daily trek through town - last summer it was goats in Zermatt - this summer cows in Murren

Taking advantage of a fruit stand along the drive to Bern

On our way back home, we stopped in Bern, the capital of Switzerland, for crepes